Thinking of buying a car? If an award-giving body is right, the best cars to buy are Volkswagen and Ford. And Toyota? Sorry, but the road doesn’t lead there.

According to the recent 2009 Total Value Awards, Volkswagen and Ford topped their Total Value Index (TVI) among more than 48,000 buyers of 2009 models from September last year to March this year.

The TVI was made based on assumptions regarding expected reliability, fuel economy, price, etc. vis-à-vis ownership experience. In other words, the true value of the vehicle is equated as the worth of the vehicle’s attributes against its costs.

Among the TVI-awarded vehicles, Ford had the most with five models at the top with the Focus Coupe, the Mustang Convertible, the Flex, the Expedition and the F-250. Volkswagen followed suit with the CC Sedan (which had the highest TVI score of any model), the Tiguan, the Jetta and the Audi Q7. Honda had three with the Odyssey, Ridgeline and the hybrid car Insight.

Unfortunately, former champ Toyota—which had seven topnotchers in the 23 categories last year (plus three with Lexus)—didn’t win in a single category this year.

Strategic Vision, which has been running the Total Value Index since 1995, said the index is supposed to help customers and manufacturers in knowing what motivates the car shopping process.

Darrel Edwards, founder and chairman of the research-based consultancy group Strategic Vision, defended Toyota’s disappearance from the index and said, “Toyota has evolved to be defined by customers as a paradigm of reliable and durable vehicles.”

“(With) so many manufacturers, inspired by Toyota, improving in perceived quality, customers have a wider range of options to choose from in our current economic climate. This allows them to find both value and love in their new vehicle,” Edwards added.

Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, said, “Durability alone and simply satisfying customers is not enough for buyers who demand both immediate and long term value. Customers no longer feel constrained to consider only the ‘usual suspects’.”

Some of the different categories of the TVI score include the Small Car, the Mid-Size Car, the Full-size (Larger) Car, the Luxury Multi-Function, the Specialty Coupe, the Minivan, and the Heavy Duty Pickup. (Joseph N)

Source: Autoblog, Strategic Vision